It 171 

.M44 
1905 
I Copy 1 



;ral view of the proposed 
plan for co-operation in tech- 
nical education between harvard 
university and the massachusetts 
institute of technology. 



AN ADDRESS 

TO THE ALUMNI OF THE INSTITUTE 

BY 

HENRY S. PRITCHETT 

President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 



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A GENERAL VIEW OF THE PROPOSED PLAN FOR CO- 
OPERATION IN TECHNICAL EDUCATION BETWEEN 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY AND THE MASSACHUSETTS 
INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. 

BY HENRY S. PRITCHETT, PRESIDENT OF THE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. 

In the discussion of any public question it is well to remember 
two general facts. First, it seldom happens that all the truth and 
all the reason lie on one side of a question. Second, the differences 
between high-minded and honorable men in dealing with such ques- 
tions generally come from differences in their points of view. 

Both of these general facts have been illustrated in the discussion 
of a possible plan of alliance between Harvard University and the 
Institute of Technology for the promotion of technical education. 
It has been condemned unheard by some as destructive of the In- 
stitute's ideals and purposes. It has been praised by others as a 
solution of all its problems for the future. The thoughtful man 
who studies the plan as it is now laid before the Alumni will see in 
it great and splendid possibilities. He will see in it, also, serious 
difficulties and possible dangers. To such an one the question 
which presents itself is: Are the advantages to be gained sufficient 
to outweigh the difficulties and the possible risk ? 

To weigh this question fairly, it is necessary to have before one's 
mind, at least in outline, the past history of the Institute, the present 
status of technical education,, and the probable developments for 
the future. 

The Institute, as we know it to-day, is essentially a school of ap- 
plied science for the training of the engineer, the chemist, and the 
architect. It is the survival of only a part of the general plan of 
education which President Rogers set in motion. This compre- 



hensive plan, embracing the Society of Arts, the Industrial Museum, 
and the School of Applied Science, was intended to include the high- 
est scientific research on the one side, and to extend to the training 
of artisans and mechanics on the other. That part of it which met 
an immediate demand was the school for the training of the engineer, 
the chemist, and the architect. This has grown and flourished, and 
it is this which we to-day call the Institute. 

It has, however, kept steadily in mind President Rogers's ideal 
to combine with technical training the elements of a general educa- 
tion. This effort has meant development under a pressure which 
has grown greater year by year; that is, the pressure to retain the 
general studies, and still to do justice to the constantly differentiat- 
ing lines of engineering and applied science. It has become more 
and more difficult to give in four years the fundamentals of a general 
education and the essentials of the engineer's training. The com- 
petition between technical schools is another factor to increase the 
tension. As a result the average engineering student must learn 
more things than he can learn well and more than he needs in his 
profession, while the exceptional man who could engage in engineer- 
ing research finds in the technical school no opportunity for it. 

The time, therefore, has evidently come when a new step in tech- 
nical education will be taken. It is clear that within a few years 
the stronger technical schools are to take a forward step under which 
they will be free of much elementary work, and by which they may 
give to their professional students a wider freedom of study and a 
greater professional opportunity, and which will, above all, give to 
the professors of the technical school a larger share in the work of 
research. The Institute must also adapt its organization to its 
growing numbers in such way as to increase, not diminish, the effi- 
ciency of its education. The solution of any one or of all these prob- 
lems means a very great increase in the support which the Institute 
must expect from the community and from the Commonwealth. 

With this very brief survey of the educational situation let us turn 
to the proposition which we are to consider. 



Reduced to its simplest terms, the plan proposes the following 
great advantages: — 

(i) The effort to develop a great technical school to be worked 
out in this community in one great school, the Institute of Tech- 
nology, instead of in two rival ones. 

(2) The association and alliance with the oldest and greatest of 
American Universities. 

(3) The undivided support of the community for technical edu- 
cation. 

(4) The Institute's freedom in education unhampered. 

On the other hand, the plan involves the following difficulties and 
possible disadvantages: — 

(1) The possible effect upon the ideals and traditions of the In- 
stitute by transplanting to a new site. 

(2) The danger of failure in an agreement revocable at the pleas- 
ure of either party thereto. 

(3) The giving up of a site in the centre of the city which is con- 
venient, accessible, and in many ways suited to the work of a tech- 
nical school. 

(4) The expense and effort necessary to secure a new site and 
new buildings. 

As men study these advantages and disadvantages, they will be 
led to estimate the one as of greater weight than the other on general 
rather than on specific reasons, — reasons which lie at the basis of 
each man's philosophy of life and of action. My own belief is that 
the advantages and the possibilities of this plan outweigh the diffi- 
culties and the dangers which may be involved in it, and my rea- 
sons for thinking so are based on the fundamental considerations 
involved. 

The great advantages which the plan suggests are those which 
have their basis in courage, not in fear, which turn toward the 
future rather than toward the past, which are founded in faith in 
the general common sense of men and not in distrust of them. It 
is, to my thinking, fundamentally right that we should have one 
great effort for technical education in this community, not two com- 
peting ones. Such a common effort is in the general direction of 



the spirit and progress of the age. It is in accord with Emerson's 
conception: "Whatever tends toward unity is true: whatever tends 
toward diversity is false. Whatever tends toward harmony is 
right: whatever tends toward discord is wrong." 

The intellectual and moral gain which would come from the 
allied effort of two groups of educated men in carrying out a 
common object would be of great value. No set of men have a 
monopoly of educational wisdom. The question set before us is, — 
and it is a question in which the whole country is interested, — Can 
two great educational institutions co-operate successfully for a great 
work ? It is unthinkable that, once the plan were put into operation, 
the arrangement would ever be broken. For this much of common 
sense and fair-mindedness we may safely rely upon the men who 
are to control the University and the Institute. And there are few 
vistas of the future which appeal more to the imagination than that 
of these two great institutions, one on either side of the Charles, 
each beautiful, strong, and free, but joining in a common effort for 
the education and the upbuilding of the State and -of the Nation. 
Neither Europe nor America could show so great an educational 
centre after twenty years. 

One cannot reckon this matter, either, without taking into con- 
sideration the interests of the Commonwealth and of the community 
of Greater Boston; and each of these is vitally interested in pre- 
serving to this region the leadership in technical education. In the 
face of the growing facilities and advantages of other institutions 
this leadership would seem to be seriously endangered in the future 
by two parallel efforts in this community. 

Much has been heard these last months concerning the duty of 
preserving to the Institute its "absolute independence." The argu- 
ments are precisely those which were used in the discussions preced- 
ing the adoption of the Federal Constitution by the separate States, 
— a discussion which in the case of Rhode Island lasted for two years. 
In our national experience we have come to see that what a State 
really needed was not a theoretical independence, but a practical 
freedom. I apprehend that what an institution of learning needs 
is freedom, and that no small part of that freedom, whether for a 



5 

State or an institution, is the freedom from local rivalry and com- 
petition. Such an alliance as is suggested would seem to mean a 
larger freedom, not a smaller one. 

When the fathers discussed so hotly the question of independence 
for the States, their talk was of imposts and taxes and local interests. 
Back of those questions which formed the basis of dispute stood the 
larger question, which we of to-day realize was the real issue at 
stake, — the question of national unity and national greatness. On 
a smaller scale we deal in this matter in our discussions with the 
details which are local and of to-day; but the greater question which 
stands back of these details is that of a larger intellectual life and 
a higher educational leadership. 

No one can have more at heart than I the preservation of that 
hearty spirit of work which is the pride of the Institute as it is of 
similar technical schools, nor of these more intangible influences 
which make up the general spirit of the school. In speaking of 
one of our older universities, Dr. Hamilton Mabie has very truly 
described this spirit in the following words: — 

"Every great college has a background which must be taken into 
account in any endeavor to understand its history or to enter into 
its spirit. A college is a visible embodiment of certain invisible in- 
fluences, which are as much a part of its educational equipment as 
its libraries, laboratories, teachers, and course of study. These con- 
stitute its larger and deeper, if less obvious life, — the life which 
searches, inspires, and often re-creates the spirit of the sensitive 
student." 

The question which lies nearest the heart of each Alumnus con- 
cerns itself with the preservation of this deeper invisible life. Will 
it bear transplanting ? Will it be transmuted into something differ- 
ent in the new site and under the new associations ? In answer we 
may safely say that some changes will come, but with equal truth 
it may be said some changes ought to come. Not all of our tradi- 
tions should be preserved unchanged. We have traditions and in- 
fluences that are narrowing as well as those which are uplifting. 
That which we value most highly, which we are proud to call the 
Technology spirit,: — the spirit of earnest work, of devotion to truth, — 



is not, to my thinking, a matter of geographic site or of student 
lodgings. It is not a thing to be preserved by certain limitations 
or to be destroyed by local surroundings. In this larger life which 
lies open to us it will grow with new vigor and send out new branches; 
but there will remain always the old-time spirit of earnestness, of 
sincerity, and of faith in the future, for these things are not matters 
of Boylston Street and Trinity Place, and human nature is funda- 
mentally the same, whether we look on one side of the Charles River 
or the other. 

The other difficulties seem to me also less formidable the closer 
one looks at them. Some of them we must meet in any case, and 
the others appeal rather to our fears than to our courage and our 
hope. I remember in one of the old-time readers, in the days when 
the school readers contained really good literature, a story of a boy 
travelling alone a country road at night. In the shadows of the 
forest he thought he could detect at every step lurking foes. Sud- 
denly before him in the gloom he distinguished a gaunt spectre 
with outstretched arms waiting to seize him. With beating heart 
he ventured on, and the spectre proved a friendly guide-post to 
point him on his way. In the life of most men and of most insti- 
tutions that which has seemed most to be feared in the future has 
proved a guide-post to show the way of progress. In the decision 
of this question let us take counsel of prudence by all means, but let 
us go forward without fear and without suspicion. 

It is for these general and fundamental reasons — a belief in co- 
operation rather than in rivalry, confidence in the general honesty 
and ability of the men who control and are to control the University 
and the Institute, faith in a larger and wider work for the Institute — 
that I am willing to go forward with this plan, notwithstanding the 
difficulties which lie in the way of its execution. 

The Corporation submits it to the Alumni for an expression of 
their opinion, with the conviction that it will receive at your hands 
the most careful consideration. In no other question likely to be 
submitted to you will there be a better opportunity to show that 
intellectual sincerity which our education in applied science is be- 
lieved to give. Not in the tumult and the uproar of a great gathering 



is this matter to be judged, but in the quiet chamber of each man's 
conscience and at the bar of each man's better judgment. Out of 
such consideration and such study we may well hope to reach a fair, 
a wise, and a satisfactory judgment. 

Let me mention, in closing, two considerations of a general nature 
which seem to me important to bear in mind. 

In the settlement of all such questions that which is present and 
tangible claims a much larger share of our attention, and seems rela- 
tively more important than that which is more distant. The thing 
of to-day assumes vastly wider perspective than the thing of ten 
years hence. Nevertheless, in dealing with this question, we have 
to do, not alone with the interests of the sixteen hundred students 
and the three thousand Alumni of to-day, but with the interests of 
the hundreds of thousands of students and of Alumni in the gen- 
erations to come. So far, therefore, as a thoughtful man may do 
so, the settlement of this question demands a look into the future. 

It is also well, in my judgment, to remind ourselves that the real 
greatness and the real usefulness of the Institute will not depend 
primarily upon the question whether its future course lies along 
one or the other of these paths. The real greatness of an institu^ 
tion of learning depends upon the scholarly spirit, the wisdom, 
and the devotion of its faculty and governing body, and upon the 
intellectual and moral life which they make possible to its students. 
The only serious crisis which an institution faces is that which it 
faces day by day and year by year in the problem of its development. 
Are the men in it wise and scholarly and able ? Is the institution 
a centre of intellectual and spiritual influence ? If these questions 
can be answered in the affirmative, the institution will be fulfilling 
its true end, whether its policy of administration carry it in one 
direction or another; and without these fundamental qualities it 
will not be strong, it will not be able to adapt itself to the times, 
it will not be a centre of inspiration, no matter what path may be 
marked out for it. 

And, finally, whether we enter into some such plan as this, or 
whether we remain where we are, or whether we remove the Insti- 
tute to some other location, whatever the solution we adopt at this 



time, it will be necessary for the friends of the Institute to meet at 
once the questions of furnishing larger facilities, better equipment, 
more teachers, and more adequate pay for those teachers; and 
this problem is nothing more nor less than the problem which the 
rapid development of America is pressing upon all our sister insti- 
tutions. Whatever may be our honest differences of judgment 
as to the wisdom of this or that policy, I trust that there can be no 
difference of opinion or of loyalty in the service of the Institute. 
I count that we shall in the end stand, whatever the decision in this 
matter, on one platform and for one cause; that is, the upbuilding 
of the Institute of Technology as an intellectual and spiritual power 
in the Commonwealth and in the Nation. In this cause I am glad 
to labor just as heartily, whether our future development lies along 
one of these paths or another. 



Note. — For the better understanding of the proposed plan the following 
information concerning certain sections is added by the President : — 

Section VI. The term Industrial Science is used to conform with the 
original publications of the Institute, and not to indicate a separation of 
instruction as between pure and applied science. 

In the present Faculty of the Institute are 65 members. The maximum 
number which could be added from the Lawrence Scientific School under 
this section is 16. 

Sect. XII. Under this section a graduate would receive the Institute 
degree and diploma exactly as at present. In addition he might receive 
the same degree, on the same Faculty recommendation, from Harvard Uni- 
versity. 

Sect. XIII. This section does not provide for instruction in Harvard 
of students of the Institute in general studies, nor for instruction of Harvard 
students in the Institute in chemistry and physics. Each institution will 
give its own instruction in all subjects, and no limit is placed on instruction, 
the limit being only as regards the giving of degrees. Technology can, under 
this agreement, add Latin and Greek to its curriculum, if it desires, but it 
could not give degrees in these subjects. 

The interchange of students here provided for is an interchange of a lim- 
ited number of advanced students and research students. 



Sect. XV. The Department of Architecture has been omitted from 
this tentative plan for the simple reason that Harvard has buildings which 
can be used only for instruction in architecture. If agreement in all other 
points can be reached, it was thought that some satisfactory solution of 
the architectural problem could be found later. 

Sect. XVII. It is assumed that all buildings upon the new site shall be 
paid for by Technology, and belong to it. 



AGREEMENT BETWEEN HARVARD UNIVERSITY AND THE MASSACHU- 
SETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY FOR CO-OPERATION AND 
ALLIANCE IN THE CONDUCT AND PROMOTION OF 
EDUCATION IN INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE 

Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- 
ogy, being convinced, after a careful consideration of the conditions 
which affect the work of education in industrial science, that such 
work can be greatly advanced and enlarged by a co-operation of the 
two institutions, in order to secure mutual assistance, render pos- 
sible a larger enterprise, promote economy, avoid duplication and 
competition, and give to the purpose of donors who have bestowed 
money in trust for that object a fuller accomplishment, do make 
this agreement, which shall endure so long as it shall be found to 
serve, to the satisfaction of both institutions, the objects above 
declared. But, whereas the carrying out of such agreement will 
require the employment of the income of the funds which the Uni- 
versity holds, or will hereafter hold in trust, and the University 
feels that faithfulness in the performance of these trusts which it 
has accepted is its first duty, to which all other considerations must 
yield, this agreement shall not go into effect until and unless the 
University shall have applied to the Supreme Judicial Court for 
instructions and the court shall have made a decree that this agree- 
ment may be earned out without violation of its duties as a trustee 
and in accordance with law and equity. 



10 



I. 



The organization of the University, the organization of the Insti- 
tute, and the title of each to its property and funds shall remain 
unaffected by this agreement, as shall also the rights and duties of 
each in investing and managing its funds. 



II. 

The institution for the combined work of promoting and furnish- 
ing education in industrial science, which it is the object of this 
agreement to establish, shall retain the name of the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology; it shall be under the direction of an Ex- 
ecutive Committee, and the instruction therein shall be given by 
a Faculty, which two bodies shall be constituted as herein below 
provided. 

III. 

The said Executive Committee shall consist of nine persons, to 
be designated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, of 
whom two shall be the President of the Corporation of the Institute 
and the Treasurer of the Institute, and three shall be members of 
the Corporation of the University. 

Subject to the restrictions herein below expressed, the said Exec- 
utive Committee shall have the general administration and super- 
intendence of all matters concerning said combined work, including 
the appointment of officers of instruction and government, and of 
servants, the power to remove any of them, the fixing of their salaries 
and the prescribing of their duties, the care of buildings, property, 
and equipment, the appropriation of money put at its disposal under 
this agreement, the fixing, collecting, and expending of students' 
fees, and the supervision and direction of the work of the Faculty, 
these being substantially the powers now conferred on the Exec- 
utive Committee of the Institute by its by-laws; it being, however, 
expressly provided that all appropriations from money furnished 
either by the University or by the Institute, and all proposed appoint- 



II 

ments or removals of officers whose salaries are to be paid there- 
from, shall be submitted to the Corporation concerned and approved 
by it before being finally adopted, it being understood that students' 
fees shall be deemed to be furnished by the Institute, and that no 
change shall be made in those fees without its approval. 

The said Executive Committee shall keep records of its proceed- 
ings, and shall make reports to the Corporation of the University 
and the Corporation of the Institute annually, and at such other 
times as either Corporation may request. 



IV. 

The President of the Institute for the time being shall be the 
President of the said Executive Committee, and shall preside at its 
meetings, when present. His salary, as fixed by the Corporation of 
the Institute, shall be paid from the funds furnished by the Insti- 
tute. He shall be the Chairman of the Faculty, shall have the 
superintendence of the several departments, and shall act as general 
executive and administrative officer, subject to the direction and 
control of said Executive Committee. He shall annually make a 
report to the Corporation of the University and to the Corporation 
of the Institute. Whenever a person shall vacate the office of Presi- 
dent of the Institute, he shall thereupon cease to be a member of 
the said Executive Committee. 



V. 

The Treasurer of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
shall be ex officio the Treasurer of the said Executive Committee. 
He shall, as Treasurer of the said Executive Committee, have charge 
of the funds put at the disposal of said committee, shall make such 
payments as the committee may authorize, shall keep accurate 
accounts of all money received and expended, and shall make report 
of his doings annually, or oftener if required, to the said committee, 
and to the Corporation of the University and to the Corporation of 
the Institute. 

LofC. 



12 



VI. 

The Faculty shall consist of all the present professors, associate 
professors, and assistant professors of the Institute, and all profes- 
sors, associate professors, and assistant professors of the University 
who now give courses of instruction leading to degrees in industrial 
science, and such officers hereafter appointed as said Executive Com- 
mittee may designate. The present professors, associate professors, 
and assistant professors of the University as aforesaid shall not be 
removed nor have their present salaries reduced without the con- 
sent of the Corporation of the University. 

Subject to the supervision and direction of the said Executive 
Committee, the Faculty shall have charge of instruction and disci- 
pline. 

VII. 

Subject to the reservations hereinafter set forth, the University 
shall place at the disposal of said Executive Committee, as above 
provided, the net income of all funds which are now credited on its 
books to the credit of the Lawrence Scientific School, also the use 
of all machinery, instruments, and equipment which the University 
holds, and the income of all property which it may hereafter acquire 
for the promotion of instruction in industrial science, and also three- 
fifths, but no more, of the net income which may accrue from the 
bequest and devise of the late Gordon McKay. 



VIII. 

Subject to the reservations herein set forth, the Institute shall 
place at the disposal of the said Executive Committee the net income 
of all funds and the use of all property and equipment which the 
Institute may hold for the promotion of instruction in industrial 
science, reserving only such amounts and property as it may require 
to maintain its organization and to carry on such functions as may 
remain to it independently of the promotion of industrial science. 



13 



IX. 



In so far as money contributed by either Corporation under this 
agreement may be used by the said Executive Committee for the 
purchase of equipment or supplies, the title thereto shall be in the 
Corporation whose money is appropriated therefor. 



X. 

The site of the institution shall be in Boston on the right bank 
of the Charles River, as nearly as practicable opposite to Harvard 
Square, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shall there 
erect, furnish, and equip buildings having the capacity of at least its 
present buildings. But the Institute shall not be required to pro- 
ceed with such purchase and construction until it shall have sold 
a sufficient part of the land which it now owns. Provided, how- 
ever, that this agreement shall be avoided if at the end of four years 
from the time when this agreement goes into effect the Institute shall 
not have purchased said land and proceeded to a substantial extent 
with such construction. 



XL 

Within three ye&rs after the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- 
ogy begins the construction of such new buildings, if the Institute 
is then prepared to give in its new location to the students of the 
Lawrence Scientific School all needed instruction in industrial sci- 
ence, the Lawrence Scientific School shall be discontinued as a 
separate school of industrial science so long as this agreement re- 
mains in force. 

XII. 

The degrees of Bachelor, Master and Doctor in Science, so far as 
given in industrial science, and all degrees in engineering, together 
with the requirements of courses of study leading to these degrees, 
shall be within the province of the Faculty; and these degrees shall 



14 

be conferred by the Corporations of the University and the Institute, 
acting separately. 



XIII. 

Male students in the Institute shall have the same privileges as 
students in Harvard University in the use of the playgrounds, mu- 
seums, and libraries of the University. 

Under regulations to be made by the two Corporations, and on 
payment of proper fees, students of the Institute shall be admitted 
to courses of instruction and the use of laboratories of the University, 
outside of those pertaining to industrial science, and students of the 
University to the courses and use of laboratories of the Institute. 



XIV. 

The Corporation and Overseers of the University and the Corpora- 
tion of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shall each have 
full right at all times to inspect the institution, and suggest to the 
said Executive Committee changes in the methods of management. 



XV. 

The Department of Architecture in the University and in the 
Institute respectively are not included in this agreement, but remain 
unaffected hereby. 

XVI. 

It is expressly provided that, as regards the funds and property 
of the University and of the Institute respectively, this agreement 
shall be subject to any special terms and requirements upon which 
such funds and property may be held; and any property or funds 
which may be held at any time by either Corporation under such 
terms and restrictions as would prevent the use of them in the precise 
manner contemplated by this agreement shall, nevertheless, be used 



i5 

by the two Corporations respectively for the support, benefit, or 
encouragement of the scheme agreed upon, in such manner as may 
be permissible and in accordance with the trusts upon which they 
may be held. 

XVII. 

The arrangements established by this agreement may be termi- 
nated at any time either by the President and Fellows of Harvard 
University or by the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, upon reasonable notice to the other Corporation. 

In the event of the termination of this agreement, the Massachu- 
setts Institute of Technology must pay, at such prices and upon 
such terms as the parties may agree upon, and, if they cannot agree 
thereon, as may be fixed by arbitration (usual arbitration clause), 
for any buildings or fixtures upon said site, paid for with funds fur- 
nished by the University. 

XVIII. 

This agreement shall take effect when finally adopted and ap- 
proved by the Corporation and the Overseers of the University and 
the Corporation of the Institute, and when and if a decree of the 
Supreme Judicial Court, as provided for in the preamble hereof, 
shall have been obtained. 



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